The occasion will mark the i4Give Cup, a joint initiative between the Bulldogs and Eels in memory of four children who tragically passed away after a drugged driver incident in Oatlands on February 1, 2020.
Three of Daniel and Leila’s Abdallah’s children had walked with four other relatives down Bettington Road, Oatlands, to get ice cream.
However, while walking, a driver under the influence of drugs and alcohol struck the seven children, with the parents’ three children – Antony, 13, Angelina, 12, and Sienna, eight, as well as cousin Veronique Sakr, 11, passing away.
The three other children were hospitalised, two recovering afterwards, one receiving permanent brain damage.
The driver was charged with 20 offences including four counts each of manslaughter, dangerous driving occasioning death, and driving with a high-range blood alcohol reading and driving through a red light.
He later had his 28-year sentence reduced to 20 years, 15 of those years without parole.
Three days after the deaths, Leila publicly forgave the driver.
“Right now I can’t hate him … I think in my heart to forgive him, but I want the court to be fair,” she said.
“It’s all about fairness. I’m not going to hate him, because that’s not who we are.”
The family later had another child named Selina, a mix of the two daughters’ names that died in the incident, Sienna and Angelina.[
In December 2020, the i4Give foundation was founded, along with i4Give Day and i4Give Week, held for the first time on February 1, 2021.
The Four Angels law was enforced in NSW from June 2021, inspired by the death of the four children. The law gives a harsher penalty to drivers found to have a combination of illegal drugs and alcohol in their system.
The Round 15 fixture will see the two teams play in the memory of the Abdallah and Sakr children, and battle for the rights to the i4Give Cup which stands for resilience and the ability to overcome setbacks.
The Cup will be presented by the Abdallah family post-match on the field.
